Pollo Saltado

A Peruvian dish that comes together in less than 20 minutes, Pollo Saltado combines perfectly-spiced chicken thighs with spicy Aji Amarillo paste, soy sauce, onions, tomatoes, and french fries to create one of Peru’s most famous meals.

The cool thing about this meal in particular is that it combines Asian influences (like their genius stir-fry method of cooking), with flavors from Peru to bring you a flavor-packed dish that’s done in the blink of an eye (so you have to move fast while making it).

Is this the same as Lomo Saltado?

Now while we’re making Pollo Saltado today, Lomo Saltado is actually the version you’ve probably heard of. I made Lomo Saltado (which uses beef as the star of the show) a few weeks ago but decided to swap out the sirloin for chicken this time and UFFFFF — this recipe is so fire.

Pollo Saltado Ingredients

Here’s everything you need to make this meal:

Chicken thighs: Sliced

Cooked french fries: You can make your own to be super extra, but the frozen kind work just fine.

Red onion: Sliced into thick pieces.

Roma tomatoes: Deseeded and sliced (this helps to make sure these don’t get too mushy)

Garlic cloves: For flavor

Spices: You’ll be using salt, pepper, paprika, ginger, cumin, coriander and oregano

Soy sauce & oyster sauce: To bring some depth.

Aji amarillo paste: This is an non-negotiable as Aji Amarillo Paste delivers the unique flavor needed for this dish.

Apple cider vinegar: For acid.

Chicken stock: As always, I just combine water with some chicken bouillon powder.

Cilantro: Chopped.

How to Make Pollo Saltado

Here’s how to make this dish.

Step 1: Marinade the chicken.

The first thing you’ll do is clean and slice your chicken thighs, then add the salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, coriander, and oregano to them and mix to combine. Set aside to come to room temperature while you’re prepping everything else.

Step 2: Cook the french fries.

Pop the french fries in the oven to cook per the packages directions. They can be cooking while you’re prepping everything else.

Step 3: Prep your ingredients.

Because you’ll be moving really fast while cooking (after the chicken everything else takes just about 45 seconds per ingredient), you’ll want to get everything measured out and ready to go.

Combine the minced garlic with the ginger and set aside. In a measuring cup, combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and apple cider vinegar and set aside.

Cut the onions into thick slices. I cut the onion in half, and then peel each layer apart. Once I have those individual onion layers I slice each one to be about 1 inch thick.

For the roma tomatoes, I quarter them and then carve out the seeded centers (this helps to make sure they don’t get too mushy while cooking). Once I take out the seeds, I’ll slice each quarter in half.

Set all of these ingredients (including the Aji Amarillo paste) aside.

Step 4: Cook the chicken.

Now add some vegetable oil to a skillet (or wok if you have one) and cook the chicken, in batches if necessary. Set aside.

Step 5: Cook everything else.

Now is when you’ll be moving quickly. Add a touch more oil, then add the onions and cook 30 seconds.

Note: Some recipes call for adding the tomato at the same time as the onion. I found that they get too mushy if added then early, so i like to add them as one of the final steps.

Dump in the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken back to the skillet and stir. Add the aji amarillo paste and stir to cover the chicken in it. Add the chicken stock, soy sauce, ACV and oyster sauce mixture and cook for about 45 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 45 seconds. Add the cilantro and turn off the flame.

Step 6: Add the french fries.

In order to make sure the fries don’t get too soggy, add them right before serving and mix in with everything else. You can also opt to serve them on the side.